Device and method for arbitrating between direct memory access task requests

ABSTRACT

A method for arbitrating between direct memory access task requests, the method includes receiving multiple DMA task requests; the method is characterized by selecting a DMA task request out of the multiple DMA task requests in response to timing deadlines associated with the DMA tasks. A device that includes an interface, that is adapted to receive DMA task requests; the device is characterized by including an arbiter that is adapted to select a DMA task request out of the multiple DMA task requests in response to timing deadlines associated with the DMA tasks.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to devices and methods for arbitratingbetween DMA task requests.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The complexity of integrated circuits has dramatically increased duringthe last decade. System-on-chip and other multiple-core integratedcircuits are being developed in order to support various applicationssuch as but not limited to multimedia applications, real timeapplications and the like.

Modern integrated circuits are capable of executing a large amount oftasks substantially in parallel. Some of these tasks require to transferrelatively large amounts of data between memory mapped devices. Multiplechannel Direct Memory Access (DMA) controller can manage multiple datatransfers while reducing the load from the integrated circuit cores(processors). Nevertheless, DMA controllers can still load these coresby issuing an interrupt whenever certain DMA tasks are completed.

The following patents and patent applications, all being incorporatedherein by reference, describe various DMA controllers: U.S. Pat. No.6,738,881 of Olivier et al, U.S. Pat. No. 6,122,679 of Wunderlich, U.S.Pat. No. 5,450,551 of Amini et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,728,795 ofFarazmandnia et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,502,117 of Kihara, U.S. Pat. No.4,556,952 of Brewer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,838,993 of Riley at el.,U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,692,216, 5,603,050 and 5,884,095 of Wolford et al.,U.S. Pat. No. 6,298,396 of Loyer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,542,940 ofMorrison et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,041,060 of Leichty et al., U.S. patentapplications serial number 2004/0073721A1 of Goff et al, U.S. patentapplications serial number 20040037156A1 of Takashi et al., U.S. patentapplication publication number 2004021618A1 of Cheung, Japanese patentpublication number JP07168741A2 of Hedeki et al., Japanese patentpublication number JP06187284A2 of Masahiko, Japanese patent applicationpublication number JP2004252533A2 of Yoshihiro, Japanese patentpublication number JP04324755A2 of Tadayoshi et al., Japanese patentapplication publication number JP2004013395A2 of Hiroyuki, Japanesepatent application publication number JP08249267A2 of Tetsuya, Japanesepatent publication number JP02048757A2 of Katsuyuki et al., and PCTpatent application publication number WO2005/013084 of Simon et al.

Due to the complexity of DMA tasks, and the large amount of DMA tasksdevelopers spent many resources in defining the priority of each DMAtask. These priorities can be tailored to specific programs.

There is a need to provide an efficient device and method forarbitrating between DMA task requests.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

A device and a method for arbitrating between DMA task requests, asdescribed in the accompanying claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully fromthe following detailed description taken in conjunction with thedrawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a device, according to an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a DMA controller, according to an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a bus interface, according to an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 4 illustrates various registers of file register, according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a buffer descriptor table according to an embodimentof the invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a four-dimensional buffer, according to an embodimentof the invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a DMA channel and a selected DMA channel logic,according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates various buffers that are involved in a exemplary datatransfer operation, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of a method for arbitrating between multiple DMAtask requests, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of a method for controlling an execution of afirst DMA task, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of a method for executing a DMA task, accordingto an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 12 is a flow chart of a method for controlling multiple DMA tasks,according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following figures illustrate exemplary embodiments of the invention.They are not intended to limit the scope of the invention but ratherassist in understanding some of the embodiments of the invention. It isfurther noted that all the figures are out of scale.

A DMA task includes a transfer of information from one location toanother. A DMA task may require many DMA transactions. The number of DMAtransaction per DMA task is responsive to the relationship between theoverall size of data that should be transferred during a DMA task andthe size of data that can be transferred during a single DMAtransaction. It is further noted that the number of DMA transactions canbe responsive to the success of the DMA transactions, as failed DMAtransactions can be followed by re-transmission of the data that wassupposed to be transferred during the failed DMA transaction.

A single DMA task can include multiple DMA sub-tasks. A single DMAsub-task can include require multiple DMA transactions. A DMA sub-taskis associated with writing to (or reading from) a single dimension of amultidimensional buffer.

A cyclic DMA task can include multiple DMA task iterations. Each cyclicDMA task operation can include multiple DMA transactions and can includemultiple DMA sub-tasks. A DMA iteration can be regarded as a DMA taskthat is repeated unless it is masked, frozen, disabled or otherwisehalted.

A multidimensional buffer include multiple buffer segments that arelinked to each other. The segments can form a consecutive address rangebut is not necessarily so.

A buffer usually is associated with multiple logic components, such asregisters. A multidimensional buffer requires less logic than a set ofindependent buffers (while each of these buffers corresponds to a singledimension of the multidimensional buffer). Conveniently, amultidimensional buffer includes multiple memory segments. The amount ofmemory segments is defined by size information of each dimension. Thesize information of a certain dimension represents the ratio between thesize of the pervious dimension and a current dimension. For example, ifthe first dimension includes Z basic memory segments, and a sizeinformation of the second dimension is Y then the dual dimension bufferincludes (Z×Y) memory segments.

According to an embodiment of the invention multiple DMA tasks can becyclic time based DMA tasks. A cyclic time based DMA task is a DMA taskthat is repetitive but its repetition rate is limited by a DMA taskexecution period. Conveniently only a single cyclic time based DMA taskshould be executed during a single DMA task execution period.

According to an embodiment of the invention a large amount of DMA taskscan be defined as cyclic time based DMA tasks, thus reducing thecomplexity of the preprogramming of the DMA controller. Also, usingcyclic time based DMA tasks prevents to program the DMA controller eachcycle.

Conveniently, a device (such as device 90 of FIG. 1) is provided. Thedevice includes at least one memory unit and a DMA controller that isadapted to access the memory unit. The device 90 is adapted to implementmultidimensional buffers within the at least one memory unit. The deviceinclude as DMA controller 100 that is adapted to execute multiple DMAsub-tasks, wherein the execution comprises jumping between buffers atinter-buffer jumping points; and wherein the inter-buffer jumping pointsare defined at substantially an end of one or more dimensions of eachmultidimensional buffer out of a plurality of multidimensional buffers.

Conveniently, a device (such as device 90 of FIG. 1) is provided. Thedevice 90 include one or more memory units (such as memory units 93, 94of FIG. 1). The device 90 also includes a DMA controller 100 that isadapted to: (i) access at least one buffer descriptor out of multiplebuffer descriptors defined for each of a plurality of DMA channel,wherein at least two buffer descriptors comprise timing information thatcontrols an execution of cyclic time based DMA tasks; (ii) receivemultiple DMA task requests, (iii) select a DMA task request out of themultiple DMA task requests, and (iv) execute a DMA task or a DMA taskiteration and update a buffer descriptor associated with the selectedDMA task request to reflect the execution.

The following description describes various counters. Those of skill inthe art will appreciate that count up as well as count down counters canbe used without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly,a counter increment operation can be replaced by a counter decrementoperation.

The following FIGs., for purposes of clarity, do not include certaindetails which persons of skill in the art understand are required in anactual system. For example, some control paths and power supply pathsare not shown. These will be apparent from the further descriptionbelow. In general, there are many possible ways to implement the logicalfunctions of system 90 and DMA controller 100 in hardware and thefigures are only intended for purposes of illustration. Persons of skillin the art will understand how to implement system 90 and especially DMAcontroller 100 based on the description herein.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system 90, according to an embodiment of theinvention. System 90 includes DMA controller 100 as well as additionalcomponents.

Conveniently, device 90 has a first DMA task controlling capabilities.It includes a memory unit and a DMA controller that is adapted tomonitor an execution of the first DMA task that involves an access tothe memory unit, and to perform a first possible timing violationresponsive operation if the first DMA task was not completed during afirst DMA task execution sub-interval.

DMA controller 100 can be connected to multiple memory mapped componentsand can be a part of various system on chip systems. The inventors useda thirty two channel DMA controller 100, but the number of DMA channelscan be altered. Multiple registers and logic are associated with eachDMA channel. Conveniently, multiple components such as but not limitedto peripherals, cores and memory units can be connected to the DMAcontroller 100. Conveniently, the DMA controller can dynamically selectwhich components to service. Thus the mere connection between the DMAScontroller and a component does not necessarily mean that that a DMAchannel is allocated to that component.

Bus 91 is connected to the DMA controller 100, bus media accesscontroller (denoted MAC) 98, multiple cores 92, multiple memory units94, external high level memory interface 95, and communication portssuch as Ethernet port 97 and PCI 99. In addition, multiple (M)peripherals 96, are connected to the DMA controller 100.

It is noted that different ports of the DMA controller 100 can beconnected to different buses, and that bus 91 can be replaced bymultiple busses, each conveniently having its own MAC.

System 90 includes multiple memory units, including internal memoryunits (not shown) within the DMA controller 100. Various information canbe stored in various memory units. Conveniently, buffer descriptorsstored in memory units 94. It is noted that at least one bufferdescriptor can be stored within the DMA controller 100 itself, but thisis not necessarily so. The buffers that are pointer by the bufferdescriptors can be implemented within memory units 94 or the externalhigh level memory unit 93.

The buffer descriptors are programmed in advance and include informationthat controls the DMA tasks.

FIG. 2 illustrates a DMA controller 100, according to an embodiment ofthe invention.

DMA controller 100 includes two I/O ports 172 and 174, I/O portinterface 160, bus interface 140, multiple FIFOs 150, PRAM 130, DMAlogic 120, channel logic and arbiter 110 and a register file 200.

The DMA logic 120 is connected to the bus interface 140, channel logicand arbiter 110, register file 200, a parametric RAM (PRAM) 130 andFIFOs 150. The PRAM 130 is connected to the bus interface 140 and to thechannel logic and arbiter 110. The register file 200 is connected to thechannel logic and arbiter 110. The FIFOs 150 are connected to the businterface 140. I/O port interface 160 is connected to I/O ports 172 and174, and to the bus interface 140.

It is noted that DMA controller 100 can include a bus interface and/oran I/O port interface for each I/O port, but for simplicity ofexplanation only one I/O port interface 160 and a single bus interface140 are illustrated.

The two I/O ports 172 and 174 are connected to bus 176 that in turn isconnected to external memory units such as memory units 94. The dual I/Oports facilitate an execution of two DMA tasks in parallel. It is notedthat the amount of I/O ports can differ from two.

Memory units 94 store buffer descriptors and are also used to implementbuffers. These buffers can include single dimensional buffers ormultidimensional buffers. Multidimensional buffers include multipleaddress ranges that are linked to each other. It is noted that thebuffer descriptors can be stored in one or more memory units while oneor more other memory units are used to implement the buffers. The bufferdescriptors define various characteristics of the DMA tasks, such as thelocation of a buffer, the remaining data to be transferred in order tocomplete a DMA task or a DMA sub-task (said size also referred to asresidual size), the number of buffer dimensions, timing of the DMAtasks, operations to perform once the DMA task ends and/or the buffer isfull or empty, and the like.

For example, the buffer descriptor can include instructions or controlinformation that cause the DMA controller to perform one of thefollowing operations once the buffer is full: (i) shut down the DMAchannel (for example by preventing that DMA channel to send DMA taskrequests to the arbiter), (ii) reinitialize (thus implementing a cyclicbuffer), (iii) reinitialize once a certain re-write period expires (thusimplementing a time-based cyclic buffer), (iv) reinstall the buffer size(thus implementing an incremental buffer), or (v) switch to anotherbuffer (thus implementing a chained buffer), and the like.

Conveniently, the buffer descriptors are defined by a user or by anotherentity and are stored in one or more memory units 94. Each DMA channelcan be associated with multiple buffer descriptors. These bufferdescriptors can be arranged in various manners, such as but not limitedto buffer descriptor tables (BDT). Each DMA channel can be associatedwith a unique BDT.

Various data retrieval methods can be applied in relation to the bufferdescriptors. Conveniently, at the first time a certain DMA task requestis selected by the arbiter, the associated buffer descriptor isretrieved from the memory units 94. The buffer descriptor is then storedin the PRAM 130, updated by the DMA controller 100, and eventuallywritten back to the memory units 94. Said write back operation can occurwhen the DMA task ends, but this is not necessarily so.

The channel logic and arbiter 110 includes an interface 420 and anarbiter 410. It receives DMA task requests from various memory-managedcomponents, such as but not limited to peripherals 96, and performs anarbitration sequence to select one out of these DMA task requests.

The interface 420 can be adapted to check whether a DMA task can beserviced (if the associated DMA task request wins the arbitrationsession) before sending the DMA task request to the arbiter 410. Thischeck can involve determining whether the DMA channel is enable, notfrozen, the I/O port can be serviced, and/or whether the DMA taskrequest is not temporarily masked, and the like.

A DMA task request can be temporarily masked if, for example, a certainDMA task is time-based cyclic DMA task and if during a predefined DMAtask period a previous DMA task was executed.

According to an embodiment of the invention the arbiter 410 is adaptedto select a DMA task request out of the multiple DMA task requests inresponse to timing deadlines associated with the DMA tasks.Conveniently, the arbiter 410 is adapted to select between DMA taskrequests associated with substantially same timing deadlines in responseto predefined priority.

Conveniently, the arbiter 410 is adapted to select between DMA taskrequests associated with substantially same timing deadlines by applyinga timing indifferent arbitration scheme. Such an arbitration scheme isnot responsive to the timing deadline and can include any of the wellknown prior art arbitration schemes such as round robin, weighted roundrobin, fixed priority, dynamically assigned priority, weighted fairqueuing, low latency queuing, and the like. The dynamically assignedpriority can change a priority of the DMA requests each one or morearbitration cycle. At least some of these arbitration schemes can limitthe amount of bandwidth consumed by a certain DMA channel.

Conveniently, the arbiter 410 is adapted to select a DMA task inresponse to at least one available bandwidth parameter (ABP). Theavailable bandwidth parameter can be the number of devices that areconnected to a bus that is also connected to the DMA controller 100, thebus bandwidth, the state of that bus (whether the bus is busy), and thelike. According to an embodiment of the invention the arbiter ignoresDMA task requests that can not be executed once the arbitration ends.For example, some DMA tasks require that a bus is not busy and that adata recipient is available. If these conditions are not fulfilled thearbiter 410 can ignore a DMA request that involves transferring dataover the busy bus and/or to a busy data recipient.

Conveniently, the arbiter 410 is adapted to select a DAM task inresponse to at least one requested bandwidth parameter (RBP). Therequested bandwidth parameter can be the number of data transferoperations that are required for completing the DMA task, the size ofdata that is transferred during each data transfer, and the like.

According to an embodiment of the invention the arbiter 410 can select aDMA task in response to one or more RBP and one or more ABP.

According to an embodiment of the invention each DMA task can beassociated with one of the I/O ports 172 and 174. In such a case thearbiter 410 can perform two independent arbitrations sessions. The firstarbitration session selects a DMA task that is associated with I/O port172 while the other session selects a DMA task that is associated withI/O port 174. Both arbitration sessions can be executed in parallel.

According to another embodiment of the invention the DMA tasks are notinitially associated with certain I/O ports. In this case the arbiter410 can select two DMA tasks and then the DMA controller 100 will decidewhich the I/O ports that will service the DMA tasks.

According to an embodiment of the invention the arbitration processincludes two stages. During the first stage the arbiter 410 sorts theDMA tasks to predefined timing deadlines ranges. Then, is selectsbetween the DMA tasks that are associated with the shortest timingdeadline range. The inventors used an eight-bit timing deadline valueand four timing deadline ranges (zero and one), (two to seven), (eightto sixty three) and (sixty four to two hundred and fifty five), butother ranges can be defined.

The DMA controller 100 include multiple FIFOs 150. Conveniently one FIFOis allocated to each DMA channel. The status of the FIFOs can beprovided to the DMA logic 120 that can, in response to the status, sendone or more DMA requests to the channel logic and arbiter 110. Forexample, is a certain FIFO is empty the DMA logic 120 can decide to fillit (by performing write operations) and when it is full is can decide toempty it (by performing read operations). The channel logic and arbiter110 can decide to arbitrate between the DMA tasks or temporarily ignorethem in response to the DMA channel status (frozen, disabled, defrosted,enabled), the I/O port availability, the current capability of acomponent associated with the DMA channel to participate in a DMAtransfer and the like.

It was previously mentioned that a DMA task request does not enter thearbitration session if the I/O port that should be used during the DMAtask is busy. It is noted that various parts of the DMA controller canperform this check. According to another embodiment of the invention thestatus of the I/O port is not checked and if such a DMA task requestwins the arbitration session it can be stored within an internal queueof the DMA controller 100, be ignored or temporarily ignored.

FIG. 3 illustrates bus interface 140, according to an embodiment of theinvention. The bus interface 140 includes a DMA task request sample unit(RSU) 142, a write FIFO 144, a read FIFO 146 and a task manager 148. TheRSU 142 samples DMA task requests provided by the DMA logic 120 andsends them to the I/O port interface 160.

The RSU 142 samples the DMA task requests sent by the DMA logic. Once aDMA task request is detected it is sent to the I/O port interface 160.If the I/O port associated with the DMA task request is not busy thenthe request is serviced. Conveniently, the request is serviced after oneclock cycle, but this is not necessarily so.

If the I/O port associated with the DMA task request is busy the RSU 142can send a RSU-busy signal to the DMA logic 120. Conveniently, the DMAtask request is stored in a queue of the task manager 148, until it isserviced.

The task manager 148 includes a queue that can store few (such as eight)DMA task requests. Once the queue of the task manager 148 is full itsends a task-manager-busy indication signal to the DMA logic in order totemporarily block new requests from the DMA logic. It is noted that aqueue can be allocated to each I/O port.

The bus interface 140 includes an internal read FIFO 146 and write FIFO148. These FIFOs relax timing constraints and provide a pipelinedstructure for read and write operation through the I/O port interface160 and I/O ports 172 and 174.

FIG. 4 illustrates various registers of file register 200, according toan embodiment of the invention.

According to an embodiment of the invention the file register 200includes one or more shadow registers. A shadow register is associatedwith a corresponding register and can allow to update the content ofthat register even when the register is being utilized.

File register 200 includes multiple programmable registers, such as DMAbuffer descriptor base registers, DMA channel configuration registers,DMA global configuration register 220, DMA channel enable register 230,DMA channel disable register 232, DMA channel freeze register 234, DMAchannel defrost register 236, DMA EDF resisters, DMA EDF mask register250, DMA EDF status register 254, DMA error register 260, as well asvarious debug registers, profiling registers, additional statusregisters and update registers.

Each DMA channel is associated with a buffer descriptor table (BDT). TheBDT includes multiple buffer descriptors. Each DMA channel has a DMAbuffer descriptor base register, such as register 202 that stores thebase address of the buffer descriptor table of that DMA channel.

Each DMA channel is associated with a DMA channel configurationregister, such as DMA channel configuration register 210. It includesthe following fields: DMA channel active (ACTV) field 212, source I/Oport (SPRT) field 213, destination I/O port (DPRT) field 214, sourcemultidimensional (SMDC) field 215, destination multidimensional (DMDC)field 216, source BDT pointer 217, destination BDT pointer 218, roundrobin priority group (RRPG) field 219. In addition these registers caninclude fields such as source/destination latency or utilizationoptimization scheme, and the like.

ACTV 212 indicates if the DMA channel is active or not. SPRT 213indicates the source I/O port, and DPRT 214 indicates the destinationI/O port. SMDC 215 indicates if the source buffer is a multidimensionalbuffer. DMDC 216 indicates if the destination buffer is amultidimensional buffer.

The source BDT pointer 217 includes an offset within a BDT to the sourcebuffer descriptor. The destination BDT pointer 218 includes an offsetwithin a BDT to the destination buffer descriptor. The address of aselected buffer descriptor is calculated from the buffer descriptor baseaddress and the offset.

The RRPG 219 indicates the priority of the DMA channel in a round robinarbitration scheme.

DMA global configuration register 220 includes various fields such asinternal or external buffer descriptor enable field 222, arbitrationtype field 224, and the like. The arbitration type field is configuredsuch as to select between multiple available arbitration schemes. Thesearbitration schemes can include, for example, timing deadlines basedarbitration scheme, timing deadline indifferent arbitration scheme,and/or a combination of both.

The DMA channel enable register 230 includes multiple bits. Each set bitindicates that the associated DMA channel is enabled. Reset bits areignored. The DMA channel disable register 232 includes a bit for eachDMA channel. If that bit is set then the DMA channel is disabled. Resetbits are ignored. DMA channel freeze register 234 includes a bit foreach DMA channel. If that bit is set then the DMA channel is frozen. Thedifference between a frozen DMA channel and a disabled DMA channel isthat the requests of a frozen DMA channel are considered but notserviced while requests of a disabled DMA channel are ignored. The DMAchannel settings of a frozen DMA channel are not changed and remainvalid. The DMA channel defrost register 236 includes a bit for each DMAchannel. If that bit is set then the DMA channel is defrosted—it exitsthe freeze status.

Each DMA channel is associated with a DMA EDF register, such as DMA EDFresister 240. It includes three timing fields. The first timing field isreferred to as current counter field 242 and it stores the current value(current time) of a timing counter that is associated with the DMAchannel. The second timing field in referred to as threshold field 244and it stores a threshold value that reflects the value of the timingcounter when the DMA task is due. The third timing field is referred toas base counter field 246 and it is stores a base counter value that isloaded to the counter when the timing counter is initialized. The DMAtask execution period conveniently reflects the difference between thebase counter value and the threshold value. A timing deadline reflectsthe difference between the current counter value and the thresholdvalue.

Conveniently once a DMA channel is disabled the timing counterassociated with that DMA channel halts. When the DMA channel is enablesthe timing counter of that channel is reloaded with the base countervalue.

DMA EDF mask register 250 includes multiple bits that can either enableor mask a generation of an interrupt request once a timing deadlineoccurs or is about to occur. According to an embodiment of the inventionan occurrence of a possible timing violation can be indicated if acertain DMA task was not completed within a predefined sub-period of aDMA task execution period. The sub-period can be defined by a sub-periodthreshold. Once this threshold is passed the DMA controller 100 oranother device (such as core 92) can perform at least one of thefollowing operations: (i) delete the DMA task, (ii) increase thepriority of the DMA task, (iii) force the execution of the DMA task,(iv) allow more than a single DMA task to be executed during the nextDMA task execution period, if this is a cyclic time based DMA task, (v)force the execution of one or more DMA transactions, (vi) force theexecution of one or more DMA sub-task, and the like.

The DMA EDF status register 254 indicates whether one or more timingviolation violations occurred. The DMA error register 260 includesmultiple fields that indicate the occurrence of various errors. Theseerrors can include various I/O port errors, address errors, PRAM paritycheck failures, FIFO errors, timing violation errors, and the like.

FIG. 5 illustrates a buffer descriptor table 300 according to anembodiment of the invention.

Each DMA channel is associated with a buffer descriptor table (BDT). BDT300 is conveniently stored within one or more memory units 94 and startsat a BTD base address. BDT 300 includes a list of buffer descriptorsthat can be associated with various DMA tasks of the DMA channel. TheBDT 300 is programmed in advance although it can be updated in variousmanners.

Conveniently, there are read buffer descriptors and write bufferdescriptors. Each of these buffer descriptors can be a singledimensional buffer descriptor or a multidimensional buffer descriptor.

BDT 300 includes multidimensional read buffer descriptors collectivelydenoted 302 and multiple single dimensional write buffer descriptorscollectively denoted 304. It is noted that the read buffer descriptorscan include one or more single dimensional buffer descriptors and/or oneor more multidimensional buffer descriptors. The write bufferdescriptors can include one or more single dimensional bufferdescriptors and/or one or more multidimensional buffer descriptors.

It is noted that each BDT can include a large number of bufferdescriptors. The inventors used a DMA controller that had up to onethousand and twenty four single dimensional write buffer descriptors,but other amount and types of buffer descriptors can be used.Conveniently if only a small amount of buffer descriptors are used thenthese buffer descriptors can be stored within the DMA controller 100.

A single dimensional buffer descriptor, such as ED 310 includes fourfields, BD_ADDR 312, BD_SIZE 314, BD_BSIZE 316 and BD_ATTR 320. Eachfield is thirty two bits long. BD_ADDR 312 includes a pointer thatpoints to the current buffer entry. The pointer scans the buffer and isincremented on every DMA transaction. BD_SIZE 314 indicates the size ofthe remaining data to be transferred in order to complete a DMA task ora DMA sub-task. This value is decremented by a DMA transaction sizeevery time a DMA transaction is completed. Conveniently, a DMA task iscompleted when this field reaches zero. BD_BSIZE 308 stores the basesize (aggregate size of data to be transferred during the whole DMAtask) of the buffer.

BD_ATTR 320 includes the following fields: (i) SST 321 that indicateswhether to generate a masked interrupt request when a DMA task ended,(ii) CYC 322 that indicates whether the buffer is cyclic or incremental,(iii) CONT 323 that indicates whether to close the buffer when BD_SIZEreaches zero, (iv) NPRT 324 that indicates which I/O port to use duringthe next DMA task, (v) NO_INC 325 that indicates whether to incrementthe buffers address (usually by altering the buffer offset) after a DMAtask is completed, (vi) NBD 326 that selects the buffer that will beused for the next DMA task, (vii) PP 328 that sets the buffers prioritythat can be taken into account by MAC 98, (viii) TSZ 330 that indicatesthe maximal amount of data that can be transferred during a single DMAtask, (ix) RFZ 331 that indicates whether to freeze a buffer onceBD_SIZE reaches zero, (x) MR 332 that indicates whether to mask requestsfrom the DMA channel until the data sent by the DMA controller reachesits destination, (xi) BTSZ 333 that indicates the DMA transaction size,and (xii) EDF 327 that indicates, if timing deadline based arbitrationis selected, how to activate the buffer once BD_SIZE reaches zero.

EDF 327 can indicate whether (a) the DMA channel and the arbiter cancontinue to work normally (in a continuous manner), (b) the EDF countershould be loaded with the base counter value, or (c) the DMA taskrequests of that DMA channel can be masked until a predefined timeperiod lapses from the start of the task (for example the EDF counterreaches zero). Once the latter occurs the counter is loaded with thebase counter value.

For convenience of explanation a four dimensional buffer and a fourdimensional buffer descriptor 340 are illustrated. It is noted that amultidimensional buffer can have two, three or more than fourdimensions. A DMA task of a four-dimensional buffer includes four DMAsub-tasks.

The multidimensional buffer descriptor 340, includes the fields of thesingle dimensional buffer descriptor as well as additional fields. Italso includes more attribute fields then the single dimensional bufferdescriptor.

When using a multidimensional buffer descriptor each dimension (DMAsub-task) can be monitored separately. Thus, instead a single value(BD_SIZE) that indicates the remaining size of data to be transferredduring a DMA task, there are three additional counters that count theremaining repetitions of first dimension (C2DIM 362), the remainingrepetitions of the second dimension (C3DIM 363) and the remainingrepetitions of the third dimension (C4DIM 364), such as to complete thesecond, third and fourth dimensions. In addition, each additionaldimension has its own offset (instead of the single dimensional BD_ADDR312 field), and its repetition base count (BC2DIM 272, BC3DIM 273 andBC4DIM 274) that indicate the overall number of repetitions of each ofthe second, third and fourth dimensions.

The additional attribute fields, in addition to fields 321-327 belong toattribute field 320′ and include: LAST 341, BD 342, SSTD 343, FRZD 344,CONTD 345, and MRD 346.

LAST 341 indicates if the buffer is the last one in a chain of chainedbuffers (and if so the DMA channel is closed once the buffer is filled(write operation) or emptied (read operation). BD 342 indicates thenumber (such as four) of dimensions of the buffer. SSTD 343 indicateswhether a completion of the first, second, third or fourth DMA sub-taskswill set a completion status bit. FRZD 344 indicates whether acompletion of the first, second, third of fourth DMA sub-task will causethe DMA controller to freeze the DMA channel. CONTD 345 definesinter-buffer jumping points by indicating when the DMA channel willswitch to the next buffer descriptor—after a completion of the first,second, third or fourth DMA sub-task. CONTD 345 facilitates to switchbuffers before the whole DM task is completed. MRD 346 indicates whenDMA channel requests are masked.

FIG. 6 illustrates a four-dimensional buffer 350, according to anembodiment of the invention.

Buffer 350 includes 128×256×128 memory segments of sixty four bytes. Theoffset between consecutive memory segments that belong to the firstdimension is four hundred and forty-eight bytes. Thus, BD_BSIZE equalssixty four, BC2DIM equals one hundred and twenty eight, BC3DIM equalstwo hundred and fifty six, and BC4DIM equals one hundred and twentyeight.

The whole buffer can include multiple inter-buffer jumping points thatcorrespond to end points of various dimensions. For example, a first setof possible inter-buffer jumping points can be located at the end ofeach memory segment (corresponding to the size of the first dimension).A second set of possible inter-buffer jumping points can be located eachone hundred and twenty eight memory segments (corresponding to the sizeof the first dimension). A third set of possible inter-buffer jumpingpoints can be located each 32768 memory segments (corresponding to thesize of the third dimension).

Inter-buffer jumping points can be defined, for example, at either oneof these possible end points. The selection between inter-buffer jumpingpoints is responsive to the value of CONTD 345. If, for example CONDequals one then the process jumps whenever a memory segment is accessed.Thus, if there are multiple multidimensional buffers such as 350 thenthe first dimension of each of these buffers is accessed, then thesecond dimension of each of these buffer is accesses, until alldimensions are accessed. If, for example COND 345 equals two then thesecond set of inter-buffer jumping points is selected.

It is noted that according to an embodiment of the invention the jumpingis responsive to a determination to continue the DMA task. In some casesonce a certain inter-buffer point is reached device 90 determineswhether to proceed in view of at least one parameters such as thecontent of the received information, the success of the pervious DMAsub-tasks, and the like.

If the four-dimensional buffer 350 is defined as a cyclic buffer thenthe first memory segment is accessed after the last memory segment isaccessed.

FIG. 7 illustrates DMA channel logic 440 and selected DMA channel logic460, according to an embodiment of the invention.

DMA controller 100 can manage multiple DMA channels. For simplicity ofexplanation FIG. 7 illustrates DMA channel logic 440 and selected DMAchannel logic 460, that manage a single DMA channel.

DMA channel logic 440 is located within channel logic and arbiter 110.The channel logic and arbiter 110 includes such logic for each DMAchannel.

Selected DMA channel logic 460 is located within DMA logic 120. The DMAlogic 120 includes a single DMA channel logic 460 that manages theselected DMA task requests. If, for example, the DMA controller 100 isadapted to manage more than one DMA task at substantially the same timeit should include additional logics such as logic 460. For example, ifDMA controller 100 is adapted to manage one DMA task per I/O port (172and 174) then it should include two selected DMA channel logics.

DMA channel logic 440 includes a timing counter unit 442, and additionalchannel logic 448.

The timing counter unit 442 includes at least one timing counter, suchas timing counter 444 that counts time that passed from various events,such as (i) a beginning of an execution of a DMA task, DMA sub-task orDMA transaction, (ii) a reception of a DMA task request, (iii) aselection of a DMA task request, and the like.

Timing counter 444 can be sampled and reloaded by the additional channellogic 448. In addition, the additional channel logic 444 can allow DMAtask requests to be sent to the channel logic and arbiter 110 only ifthese DMA task requests are valid and/or can be serviced by the I/Oport. In order to perform this task the additional channel logic 448accesses various field in register file 200 and can conveniently accessthe buffer descriptors. For example, it accesses the DMA channel enableregister 230, the DMA channel disable register 232, the DMA channelfreeze register 234 and the like. A DMA task request that is received aya peripheral device or other memory mapped device and/or a requestinitiated by a FIFO out of FIFOs 150 can be masked by the additionalchannel logic 448 or can be provided to the arbiter 410.

According to an embodiment of the invention the additional channel logic448 can detect a possible timing violation (and send a possible timingviolation signal) by checking whether a DMA task was completed beforethe counter reaches a predefined value that indicates that the DMA taskexecution sub-interval has passed. The DMA task execution sub-intervalcan be included within the buffer file 200 or within a bufferdescriptor. The signal can be sent to various components of device 90,including core 92 or to another portion of DMA controller 100.

The additional channel logic 448 can receive an indication from theselected DMA channel logic 420 or from a buffer descriptor that the DMAtask was completed.

Selected DMA channel logic 460 manages the selected DMA task orsub-task. It accesses the buffer descriptor of the selected DMA task andperforms various operations such as address calculation, determiningwhen a DMA task or DMA task has ended, deciding when to perform aninter-buffer jump, and the like.

Selected DMA channel logic 460 includes at least one progress counter462. The progress counter 462 is loaded with a base address once the DMAtask begins and is decremented by the remaining size of data to betransferred during the DMA task or DMA sub-task by the DMA transactionsize, when such a DMA transaction is completed. Once a DMA task or DMAsub-task ends the updated buffer descriptor is sent back to the PRAM 130and to memory unit 94.

Conveniently, when managing a multidimensional buffer multiple countersshould be used in order to count the repetition of each dimension.

Selected DMA channel logic 460 also includes an address calculation unit464 that receive various addresses and uses these address to accessselected entries of a buffer (pointed by the buffer descriptor), performjump operations, and the like.

FIG. 8 illustrates various buffers 70, 71, 72, 73, 75 and 75 that areinvolved in a exemplary data transfer operation, according to anembodiment of the invention.

Buffers 71 and 72 stores a source image while registers 72 and 73 storea reference image. Data from both images is required when the sourceimage is processed by encoding and/or compression.

Buffers 70 and 71 are the source buffers, buffers 72 and 73 arereference buffers, and buffers 74 and 75 are destination buffers. Eachone of buffers 71 and 72 is a three-dimensional buffer.

The first dimension of buffer 71 includes a memory segment denoted S1.The second dimension of buffer 71 includes memory segments S1 and S2.The third dimension of buffer 71 includes fifty memory segments denotedS1-S50.

The first dimension of buffer 72 includes a memory segment denoted S51.The second dimension of buffer 72 includes memory segments S51 and S52.The third dimension of buffer 72 includes fifty memory segments denotedS51-S100.

The first dimension of buffer 73 includes a memory segment denoted R1.The second dimension of buffer 73 includes memory segments R1 and R2.The third dimension of buffer 73 includes fifty memory segments denotedR1-R50.

The first dimension of buffer 74 includes a memory segment denoted R51.The second dimension of buffer 74 includes memory segments R51 and R52.The third dimension of buffer 74 includes fifty memory segments denotedR51-R100.

The DMA controller 100 performs an inter-buffer jumping whenever itcompletes to read the second dimension of each buffer. Thus, afterforty-eight jumps it completes reading buffers 71 and 72.

The result of the inter-buffer jumps the buffers stores the image datain a manner that eases the processing of the video frames. Thus,register 74 stores the following memory segments: S1, S2, S51, S52, S3,S4, S53, S54 . . . S100 and register 75 stores the following memorysegments: R1, R2, R51, R52, R3, R4, R53, R54 . . . R100.

The following FIGs. Are flow charts of various methods according tovarious embodiments of the invention. These methods are convenientlyperformed by system 90 of the present invention. References to variouscomponents of system 90 and especially of DMA controller 90 are providedonly for convenience of explanation. Those of skill in the art, areable, based on the description herein, to apply method also to othersystems

Conveniently, stages of the various method can be combined, a stage of acertain method can be executed by applying one or more stages of anothermethod. Some of these combinations are specifically described in thefollowing description, but this is just for convenience of explanation.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of a method 500 for arbitrating between multipleDMA task requests, according to an embodiment of the invention.

Method 500 starts by optional stage 505 of defining timing deadlinesranges. The timing deadline ranges can be equal to each other but thisis no necessarily so. The inventors used four timing deadline rangesthat had different lengths.

Stage 505 is followed by stage 510 of receiving multiple DMA taskrequests. Conveniently, these DMA tasks requests are received at thechannel logic and arbiter 110 from enabled DMA channels. The requestscan be sampled during an arbitration cycle. Each DMA task request isdescribed by a predefined buffer descriptor within the DMA channels BDT.

Stage 510 is followed by stage 520 of selecting a DMA task request outof the multiple DMA task requests in response to timing deadlinesassociated with the DMA tasks. The selection may be applied by arbiter410.

According to an embodiment of the invention stage 520 includes selectingbetween DMA task requests associated with substantially same timingdeadlines in response to predefined priority. This priority can be fixedor can dynamically change.

According to an embodiment of the invention the selection can includeapplying a timing deadline indifferent arbitration scheme.

Conveniently, stage 520 is responsive to at least one availablebandwidth parameter and/or to at least one requested bandwidthparameter.

Conveniently, at least one DMA task is a repetitive task, and even acyclic time based DMA task.

According to an embodiment of the invention stage 520 includes selectingbetween multiple DMA task requests that are associated with timingdeadlines that belong to one (or more) timing deadline range.Conveniently, method 500 searches a range that is not empty and includesthe shortest timing deadlines. If this range includes more than one DMAtask request then method 500 selects one of these DMA task requests.

Conveniently, each DMA task request is associated with a certain I/Oport. In such a case the method can perform an arbitration sequence foreach port. The different arbitration schemes can be executed inparallel.

Conveniently, at least one DMA task involves retrieving information from(or to) a multidimensional buffer.

Conveniently, method 500 further includes monitoring the execution ofthe DMA tasks. Conveniently, method 500 includes stage 530 of generatingan interrupt request in response to a possible timing deadlineviolation. It is noted that various stages of methods 600, 700 and/or800 can be applied during the execution of that DMA task.

It is noted that method 500 can include a stage (not shown) of selectinganother arbitration scheme such as a timing deadline indifferentarbitration mechanism.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of a method 600 for controlling an execution ofa first DMA task, according to an embodiment of the invention.

According to an embodiment of the invention a core load is reduced bynot generating an interrupt request once a DMA task was successfullycompleted.

Method 600 starts by stage 610 of defining a first DMA task executioninterval and a first DMA task execution sub-interval. Conveniently thesedefinitions are stored within one or more buffer descriptors.

Stage 610 is followed by stage 620 of selecting the first DMA taskrequest between multiple DMA task requests, wherein the selection isresponsive to a priority of the first DMA request. The selection caninvolve applying one or more stages of method 500.

Stage 620 is followed by stage 650 of monitoring an execution of thefirst DMA task.

Stage 650 is followed by stage 660 of performing a first possible timingviolation responsive operation if the first DMA task was not completedduring the first DMA task execution sub-interval.

According to various embodiments of the invention the method 600 can beapplied to multiple DMA tasks. For example, method 600 can includedefining a second DMA task execution interval and a second DMA taskexecution sub-interval, monitoring an execution of the second DMA taskand performing a second possible timing violation responsive operationif a second DMA task was not completed during a second DMA taskexecution sub-interval.

According to an embodiment of the invention the first DMA task is acyclic time based DMA task. Once a possible timing violation is detectedthen the execution of the DMA tasks during future DMA task intervals canbe altered.

According to various embodiments of the invention stage 660 can includeeither one of the following stages or a combination of one or more ofthe following stages: (i) generating an interrupt request; (ii) stoppingthe DMA task; (iii) altering a priority of the first DMA task request;(iv) allowing an execution of multiple first DMA tasks within a singlefirst DMA task execution interval; (v) forcing a completion of the DMAtask; (vi) forcing a completion of a DMA sub-task.

Referring to the DMA controller 100 that was illustrated in previousFIGs, the DMA controller 100 can bypass the arbiter or otherwisetemporarily freeze other DMA requests and cause the DMA task request toprovided to the I/O port interface again.

According to an embodiment of the invention the possible timingviolation responsive operation is responsive to the progress of the DMAtask that caused the possible timing violation and/or to the priority ofthat DMA task. For example if the DMA task is almost completed (and/orhas a high priority) the method will tend to complete the DMA task andnot to stop it.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of a method 700 for executing a DMA task,according to an embodiment of the invention.

Method 700 starts by stage 710 of defining inter-buffer jumping pointsat substantially an end of one or more dimensions of eachmultidimensional buffer out of a plurality of multidimensional buffers.

Stage 710 is followed by stage 750 of receiving a request to execute aDMA task.

Stage 750 is followed by stage 770 of executing multiple DMA sub-tasks,wherein the executing includes jumping between buffers at theinter-buffer jumping points.

Conveniently stage 770 includes determining, in at least oneinter-buffer jumping point, whether to continue executing DMA sub-tasks.Thus method 700 can continue to execute the DMA task, abort the task oreven re-execute at least one DMA sub-task in response to thedetermination.

According to various embodiments of the invention the determination canbe (i) responsive to a success of DMA sub-tasks that were executed priorto the determining; (ii) responsive to a content of data retrievedduring at least one DMA sub-tasks that was executed prior to thedetermining, and the like.

Conveniently, method 700 includes freezing at least one DMA channelduring the determination.

Conveniently the DMA task is a time based cyclic DMA task.

Conveniently, the DMA task includes writing data from a multidimensionalbuffer to multiple single dimensional buffers.

Conveniently, method 700 includes executing DMA sub-task associated acertain dimension of each of the plurality of multidimensional buffersand then executing DMA sub-tasks associated with another dimension ofeach of the plurality of multidimensional buffers.

Conveniently the DMA task is executed once a corresponding DMA taskrequest is selected. The selection can be responsive to a priority ofthe DMA tasks. Conveniently, a priority of a DMA task associated with aplurality of multidimensional buffers is responsive to a priority of atleast one of these multidimensional buffers.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart of a method 800 for controlling multiple DMAtasks, according to an embodiment of the invention.

Method 800 starts by stage 810 of defining multiple buffer descriptorsfor each of a plurality of DMA channel; wherein at least two bufferdescriptors include timing information that controls an execution ofcyclic time based DMA tasks. Examples of various information includedwithin a buffer descriptor are illustrated in FIG. 5.

Conveniently, the timing information defines a DMA task executioninterval and a DMA task priority. These fields can be utilized by amethod such as method 600. Conveniently, at least one buffer descriptorincludes a current iteration I/O port selection information and a nextiteration I/O port selection information. If the DMA controller (such asDMA controller 100) includes multiple I/O ports then these fields definethe I/O port that should be used during a current DMA task, DMA sub-taskand/or DMA transaction and the I/O port that should be used during thenext DMA task, DMA sub-task and/or DMA transaction. Conveniently, atleast one buffer descriptor includes arbitration type information. Thus,in view of this field the DMA controller can select an arbitrationscheme, such as but not limited to the arbitration schemes of method500.

Stage 810 is followed by stage 850 of receiving multiple DMA taskrequests.

Stage 850 is followed by stage 860 of selecting a DMA task request outof the multiple DMA task requests. The selection can include any stageof method 500.

Stage 860 is followed by stage 870 of executing a DMA task or a DMA taskiteration and updating the buffer descriptor associated with theselected DMA task request to reflect the execution. Stage 870 isfollowed by stage 860.

Conveniently, stage 870 is followed by stage 880 of generating aninterrupt request once a possible timing violation is detected. Stage880 and a possible timing violation operation are followed by stage 860.

It is noted that the buffer descriptors can be updated during theexecution of method 800, although this update stage is not illustratedin FIG. 11 for convenience of explanation.

Conveniently, at least one buffer descriptor is stored in a memory unitthat is coupled to a DMA controller and the execution of a firstiteration of a cyclic time based DMA task includes retrieving a bufferdescriptor associated with the cyclic time based DMA task from thememory unit.

Conveniently, at least one cyclic time based DMA tasks includes multipleDMA sub tasks associated with multidimensional buffers. Conveniently,the method 800 includes utilizing different I/O ports during differentDMA task iterations.

Variations, modifications, and other implementations of what isdescribed herein will occur to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention asclaimed. Accordingly, the invention is to be defined not by thepreceding illustrative description but instead by the spirit and scopeof the following claims.

1. A method for arbitrating between direct memory access task requests, the method comprises: receiving multiple DMA task requests; selecting a DMA task request out of the multiple DMA task requests in response to timing deadlines associated with the DMA tasks; wherein at least one DMA task is a repetitive task.
 2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the selecting further comprises selecting between DMA task requests associated with substantially same timing deadlines in response to predefined priority.
 3. The method according to claim 1 wherein the selecting further comprises selecting between DMA task requests associated with substantially same timing deadlines by applying a timing deadline indifferent arbitration scheme.
 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the selecting is further responsive to at least one available bandwidth parameter.
 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the selecting is further responsive to at least one requested bandwidth parameter.
 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one DMA task is a cyclic time based DMA task.
 7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising defining timing deadlines ranges and wherein the selecting comprises selecting between multiple DMA task requests that are associated with timing deadlines that belong to one timing deadline range.
 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein each DMA task is associated with an I/O port and wherein the selecting comprises arbitrating between DMA task requests that are associated to the same I/O port.
 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one DMA task involves retrieving information from a multidimensional buffer.
 10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising generating an interrupt in response to a possible timing deadline violation.
 11. A device that comprises: an interface, that is adapted to receive DMA task requests; an arbiter that is adapted to select a DMA task request out of the multiple DMA task requests in response to timing deadlines associated with the DMA tasks; wherein at least one DMA task is a repetitive task.
 12. The device according to claim 11 wherein the arbiter is adapted to select between DMA task requests associated with substantially same timing deadlines in response to predefined priority.
 13. The device according to claim 11 wherein the arbiter is adapted to select between DMA task requests associated with substantially same timing deadlines by applying a timing indifferent arbitration scheme.
 14. The device according to claim 11, wherein the arbiter is adapted to select in response to at least one available bandwidth parameter.
 15. The device according to claim 11, wherein the wherein the arbiter is adapted to select in response to at least one requested bandwidth parameter.
 16. The device according to claim 11, wherein at least one DMA task is a cyclic time based DMA task.
 17. The device according to claim 11, wherein at least one DMA task involves retrieving information from a multidimensional buffer.
 18. The device according to claim 11, further adapted to generate an interrupt in response to a possible timing deadline violation.
 19. The device according to claim 11, comprising multiple ports and wherein the arbiter is adapted to arbitrate between DMA tasks associated with a single port.
 20. The device according to claim 11, further adapted to define timing deadlines ranges and wherein the arbiter is adapted to select between multiple DMA task requests that are associated with timing deadlines that belong to one timing deadline range. 